PRAGUE RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA COLLABORATED ON TWO BRAND NEW RECORDIGNS WITH SUPRAPHON

Two new Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra albums have been made as a result of the collaboration between Supraphon and Czech Radio. Leoš Janáček’s Orches­tral Suites (SU 4194–2) were recorded under the conductor Tomáš Netopil, and the complete Miloslav Kabeláč symphonies (SU 4202–2) under Marko Ivanović. The two CD projects are scheduled to be released on 23 September 2016.

The conductor Tomáš Netopil has commented on the recording of the suites from three seminal Leoš Janáček operas (Jenůfa, Katya Kabanova, Fate) as follows: “Following the first Janáček album, solely featuring his symphonic works, and the second, comprising vocal-instrumental pieces, we chose to record Janáček’s opera suites. His decision to write the orchestral suites was somewhat atypical of him, as the composer was very particular about the texts, which he considered the alpha and omega for his music, with all his melodies actually being set texts, of human speech, its natural current. Thus we were stepping on thin ice. But I really enjoyed it and, in my opinion, the result of our efforts is pretty good. The orchestra is employed to the full, similarly to its being used in opera.”

Matouš Vlčinský, Supraphon’s pro­ducer, added: “The right choice of the performers for the recording has been confirmed by the responses to the previous two Janáček projects implemented by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Tomáš Netopil, which have been named Gramophone Editor’s Choice.”

Miloslav Kabeláč’s sym­phonies are being released in a 4-CD set. With this very first complete recording of the works, Supraphon affords the listeners the opportunity to immerse themselves deeply in his symphonic oeuvre.

The conductor Marko Ivanović has said of the project: “After Bohuslav Martinů, Miloslav Kabeláč was undoubtedly the second greatest 20th-century Czech symphonist. All of Kabeláč’s sym­phonies are imbued with the motif of memento, a clenched fist, defiance, menace. His music is very engrossing indeed. Kabeláč opened the door to new musical landscapes.”

Jakub Čížek, the director of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, summed up the collaboration with Supraphon: “The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra spend 50 to 70 days a year in the studio. Recording is one of the major pillars of our work, which, after all, dates back to the time when the orchestra was set up, 90 years ago. Owing to our co-operation with Supraphon, we have been able to release the best recordings on CD. And I am very pleased that such extensive cycles as Kabeláč’s sym­phonies are of interest for the largest Czech classical music label.”